Being the new guy, I can honestly say I would have just walked away had I bought into the idea that all planes will crash, that would make this hobby WAY too expensive for my budget. (Family of five, income less than 30K per year)

Fortunately, I know from my first instructor, in my first go around, that this is just not true. His attitude was he was going to teach me how not to crash. Even though I backed away for 5 years, and ultimately soloed with different teachers, I like to think that his school of thought is the right one.